Quick Reaction: Raptors 106, Lakers 112

Amir Johnson, PF Shot Chart29 MIN | 6-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 13 PTS | -18Liked his energy, as usual, and his passing in the first half was a big reason the Raptor offense was humming early. However, he fell victim to jump-shot-itis in the third quarter (4 three point attempts??) and made some questionable decisions with the ball. I didn’t like the benching for Patterson down the stretch, but I understood it.

Terrence Ross, SF Shot Chart33 MIN | 4-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | -14Not bad, not great. I had flashbacks to last year watching him get lost running around screens in the first half. Like all the Raptors besides Patterson and Lowry, he cooled off substantially in the second half. I was hoping we’d see a repeat of his performance last game, where he took the ball to the rim with aplomb. Not so.

Jonas Valanciunas, C Shot Chart14 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -3Not his best game. Had a really difficult time with Pau Gasol on both ends of the floor, and seemed a step slow hedging on the pick and roll set the Lakers ran for what seemed like the entire first half. Was rightly benched for Chuck Hayes down the stretch. On the bright side, 7 boards in 14 minutes is a pretty impressive rebound rate.

Kyle Lowry, PG Shot Chart35 MIN | 8-13 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 9 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 21 PTS | -15Superlatives don’t do this guy justice. He does it all – whether it’s taking charges, moving the ball around the perimeter, or bailing the Raptor offence out with a late-in-the-shot clock three. He’s the reason the score was as close as it was. Playing at an All-Star level.

DeMar DeRozan, SG Shot Chart42 MIN | 10-24 FG | 3-4 FT | 6 REB | 7 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 23 PTS | -13His shots were falling in the first half, but did his best Rudy Gay impression in the fourth quarter, where he tried (and failed) to go toe-to-toe with Swaggy P on the degree of difficulty scale. Took a silly technical with 20 seconds left, too. One of the best parts of his improvement over the last couple months has been that when his shot isn’t falling, he looks to move the ball and contribute in other ways. In crunch time, that mentality just wasn’t there.

Chuck Hayes, PF Shot Chart23 MIN | 2-2 FG | 3-3 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | +5The only Raptor who seemed to be able to slow Pau Gasol, and so, rightly, he stayed in the game through crunch time. He’s a heady player – exactly the kind of guy you want to be your fourth big. His lack of length does limit his effectiveness somewhat on both ends of the court.

Julyan Stone, SG Shot Chart13 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | +9Got some reserve wing minutes with John Salmons out with back spasms. For most of the game, you didn’t notice anything positive or negative when he was out there, which is as good of an outcome as you could hope for. In the fourth, though, he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game. Did bother Nick Young with his length and make him take some high degree of difficulty shots (a few of which he made, but still).

Dwane Casey
Liked his rotations – I thought he made the right decision keeping Patterson and Hayes in the game down the stretch. Liked his timeout calls, and the inbound plays seemed smooth. However, When the team comes out in the second half, shoots nothing but jumpers, and goes completely cold, you have to find a way to adjust and get some easy points.

Four Things We Saw

Defence? What’s that? As Andrew wrote about in his pre-game, this was basically a glorified game of pick up. The effort just wasn’t there (for either team, honestly), and once Nick Young got hot in the fourth, the game was over. Ryan Kelly with 17 points is just unacceptable.

Eleven free throw attempts. Thirty three point attempts. Something’s not right here. The Raptors were really, really jumper heavy all game – a strategy that worked early, and bit them in the ass late once they stopped falling.

Nick Young hit some absolutely impossible shots down the stretch, but it was gameplanning and a consistent effort that cost the Raptors tonight. The game was there for the taking multiple times, and they just couldn’t finish it off.

Today’s a great example of why Raptor followers should realize that Kyle Lowry is more deserving than DeMar DeRozan for an All-Star nod. Both guys get their stats, but one of them is so, so much more valuable to his teammates on a nightly basis.

Albeit the officiating was sketchy at times, Lakers played harder and deserved the win. Can’t blame the refs. Refs didn’t blow a 19 point lead to a roster of guys that could be playing in the D-League any day now. Perhaps I’m underestimating this Lakers team sans Kobe, but we really need to win these opportunities. Every time we seem to think we’re taking one step forward, we take another two steps back with losses like this and the Celts earlier this week. I’ll chalk this loss up to youth and inexperience. We’re still a work in progress.

Tanks-a-lot

I think that the Celtics were especially motivated to avoid a 10th loss in a row.

At least now these are learning experiences that are ‘should have won’, as opposed to ‘could have won’

akashsingh

derozan is a fucking scrub. This team is fools gold, and will win meaningless games only to get trounced in the first or second round. Great job saying we won’t be caught in no mans land and doing exactly that masai you fucktard.

DDayLewis

Derozan isn’t a scrub, but he had one horrifying sequence down the stretch where he missed a contest two, fouled Nick Young on a three pt attempt. and then topped it off with a tech.

Kyle Weber

get that”fools gold”/”no mans land” shit out of here and go cheer for the Heat if you can’t handle a work in progress.

The thought that success means first or last place and nothing in between is retarded and kills sports

ac1011990

So what does wins with no results mean to you. Everyone in the nba should play for a title, that’s it. If you aren’t a contender then your nothing. Maybe moral victories make you happy playing in the YMCA but in the NBA if your not a contender your irrelevant.

Kyle Weber

LOL “wins with no results” is the weirdest sentence. Wins are results.

Most people would agree that the Rockets cant beat Miami in a 7 game series- so are they irrelevant? Should they tank?

Everyone in the NBA should play PERIOD.

With your thinking, why do you even bother watching games if they don’t matter? Shouldn’t you just be sitting tight waiting for the finals?

ac1011990

The result is a championship, sorry I thought it was clear for everyone, apparently people can’t understand simple things. And no they should bring in small pieces to help them get past Miami because they have the main building blocks. I watch for the fun of it but I also would love if they could actually try and win for the sake of bringing pride to the country and as an organization. It’s a business first and foremost, I realize that the thing is some owners are cool with making money some actually have pride and want to win. Even though the nets are shit I respect the Russian billionaire because he wants to win at all costs. This is a game and if your playing for money I don’t get why that’s something to be proud of. So il keep watching but I’m not going to stop wanting a championship.

raptorstand

Every Toronto Raptor fan that posts here and isn’t a troll wants the Raptors to win a championship. The people that have watched 5 years of basketball without a meaningful game after the season is over want a steady improvement and play offs this year. This team is not going to win a championship this year , or next year, but three years down the road we will compete for a championship in my humble opinion.

ac1011990

You said we are contenders now, what happened?

Jermaine K

totally right. Raptors are just playing for the $$

LOL

ac1011990

Hmmm stadium is selling out for the past little while, watching a team that’s good not great. If I was MLSE I’d have zero interest in changing things, exactly the route they have gone, why because in Toronto even a little bit of success sells. None of us know the intentions of MLSE, the owners didn’t become billionaires by doing the conventional thing. Only a few teams are actually Interested in the championship, most are in it for profits, sadly the raptors were one of those organizations not long ago. Laugh when we have shown otherwise.

Jermaine K

who’s your inside guy feeding you all this inside shit? You have owner hookups?? Who’s the NBA got slotted for the top pick this draft? LOL

How are we not showing otherwise? We’re 3rd place in the East and got here by making moves with a new GM. It’s not like the Raptors are just kickin back doing nothing. You have no clue who Massai’s talking to and what he’s intending on doing, you’re just a complete buzzkill

ac1011990

It’s common sense, if you were doing a half assed job yet people licked your feet and sang nothing but praises, meanwhile you raked in millions upon millions there would be zero intentions to do better. Look around the league few teams go all out to win championships, why, because they are happy with what they have in terms of money.

I doubt any of the owners of MLSE are as passionate about basketball as someone like Cuban or so intent on winning that millions of tax dollars mean nothing, like Prokhorov. Until MLSE show they actually want to win then il believe it. I don’t know why everyone just gives away there trust so easily.

Kyle Weber

lol I don’t even know how to respond to that, your view did a 180 between your two comments. 1st you’re all unhappy with “moral victories” and now you’re all “win for pride”

I said all teams should try and win. Are you on my side now lolol?

ac1011990

What part of my version of winning and your version of winning are you getting confused on? Let me explain, the difference between the wins I want and yours are that your happy with post season wins that lead to nothing. Nothing in my books is worthless playoff appearances when your not a contender. Nobody considers Raptors a real contender, if you do please don’t talk to me. Atlanta hawks have been to many postseason series but we’re never a contender. This post season is a feel good for the organization, a prize for being shit all these years, it’s not anything of meaning. I want my team to win and be competitive and actually have a chance at the goal of this all, you seem to be happy with a few wins and a playoff berth because it’s fun.

Kyle Weber

with that attitude you should never have children, they’ll just disappoint you.

Are the Raptors supposed to jump from last place one season to championship the next? No, they’re supposed to be shit, then make the play offs with an early exit, then get bounced in a later round, then hopefully compete. Nothing wrong in enjoying the process

Kyle Weber

what are you gonna do if/when the Raptors win a championship? There’ll be nothing left for you, since you don’t care about the season, or the early/mid playoff rounds. Why are you even here right now if the season is already irrelevant? Are you actually just here to complain?

akashsingh

a work in progress would imply there is a reasonable chance that we can get better. In my opinion we need a superstar. Now let me go through the scenarios:
1. draft/ no, we are too good
2. internal growth/ Although we have some good pieces, it isn’t unreasonable to say no one on this team will develop into a first option. An example of having a talented piece that grew into a superstar would be indiana with paul george.
3.Free agents/ superstars only flock to a handful of locations, toronto is not one of them.

Are hands are tied, the only way for this team to improve is internally, and I do not like the chances of that leading to a championship.

And I’m not a bandwagon loser, I’m not going to go support the heat.

ac1011990

He’s not a scrub, he’s doing things he didn’t do before like rebound and pass. He’s just not a number one option and on this team he needs to be. This team needs an elite player, someone who’s job it is to make the difficult shots. Derozan is a great player who’s been asked to do to much. Deep teams only get so far, whether people like it or not we need an elite talent to take us far.

Nerius

No this team doesn’t need “an elite player”, what this team needs is less of “an elite player” mentality, they need to continue playing team ball, to continue passing out of double teams, giving the ball to the open man, driving to the basket instead of “elite player” jump balls. They had “an elite player” already, remember? He’s doing great in Sacramento.

Chewwy No Matthew

Well put. Demar got into Rudy Gay mode in the fourth with some really bad shot selection. If he wants to be considered a leader he has to change his attitude. He sulks a lot and took a very bad technical. Team ball is what has got us to this positive point and we get to see what negative impact it has when certain players try to take over a game selfishly.

kitchy

Guys, I don’t know if you’ve noticed it but this is a common occurrence in the 4th quarter with DD. Even worse than the miss or turnover is the fact that 4 other guys are standing around.

ac1011990

You keep being happy playing hot potato with the ball. Everyone knows you need an elite player in this league. I could get in there and keep passing it to the next person but you only win games when you have someone to make the shots consistently and when you need it the most. When a so called deep passing team wins the title during this era then il believe you. Rudy was never an elite player, he’s showing that in Sacramento by doing what he was meant to do and that’s be a second or third option. It’s pretty simple in this league at this team you need at least 1 elite player, and that’s minimum.

Nerius

We have plenty of guys who can score when they are open. Which they get when they pass the ball and they showed it even today. We need cool heads not “elite players”.

ac1011990

Ok and by the way an elite player is someone who makes impacts on both ends of the floor, does the little things. In crunch time can help us get through games. I might have not been clear, scoring is important but you need the intangibles as well. Anyways guess we have different opinions, I want my team to actually have a chance your ok with what we have now.

Nerius

Where did I say that I don’t want them to have a chance? You’re just pulling this out of thin air. What I do hate is the NBA’s star mentality. The Kobes and Rondos of this league. The so called “elite players” that will shoot over two defenders because that’s who they are – “elite”. This week Olynyk had a game where he went like 24/7/6 or something, the league selected Rondo as the most important player in their nightly recap with 8/4. The Raptors had the recent success because every night someone came out and did great – 2Pat one night, Amir another, Ross or Salmons. Paired with stable and consistent play of DD and KL that’s what won the games. It’s hard to defend against a deep team. The “elite players” get you in the play style that Rudy (and DD tonight) was showing. And it’s much easier to shutdown one player. Or did you already forget what Ross and DD did to Paul George?

ac1011990

Kind of hard to argue with people like you. Fine we don’t need elite talent we are perfect the way we are. Since Demar is staring to become Rudy I hope Masai trades him to for someone who passes like you suggest. I don’t know what kind of a place you guys are in but this league is dominated by stars. I’m not sure what you want as proof but I have a feeling nothing is going to change your mind.

Hope he finds one sooner or later or wel be having a similar convo in about 5 years. Sadly most owners are ok with people like you who are fine with just good. Toronto is a great fan city and it shows, people kept showing up for shit teams over the past 5 years, selling out now for a good team. If I was a billionaire owner I’d have zero reason to change anything for the next 5 years intil people get tired of the new Atlanta hawks.

Derek Laitner

you should start calling in bomb threats to the ACC so you can stop fans from supporting the 3rd place in the East, because winning a championship this year is more important than enjoying the NBA season

truth be told

‘cool heads’ = mediocrity

elite talent = continued success

truth be told

Why doesn’t this team need an elite player?

Ask Masai if he doesn’t want an elite player.

raptorspoo

LOLOL!! Although I’m enjoying watching the games these days, I totally agree with you~

… but Raptorsrepublic seems to be for people that like to gather and stroke each other. They’ll cuss you up for your different opinion LOL.

Rupert

They need to start separating themselves from the rest of the east these losses are just terrible

Evan Phillips

Blow it up!

Jam

ugly loss….can’t have another one like this. this was boston all over again. That Lakers team is god awful (even though the refs still treat them like they’re champs). We can’t be falling apart now, these games are gifts. After February 1st, things get together…..in my opinion we can’t loose until then. More easy ones coming, respond raps! Are we still bums? Thats up to you.

Ken

u guys way too easy on DD.. he was horrible tonight

Chewwy No Matthew

I thought he was horrible the other night in Boston also. I want to really like him but his poor body language and at times, poor selfish attitude hurts the team. He is wayyy too talented to keep making the same mistakes he has early in his career. He has never improved on the sulking and that technical was just plain selfish.

FREEJV

He also played like ass against Minnesota hes playing for stats out there ever since the talk of him being an allstar came about . Also he plays 000000 defense. Kobe was laughing at him while he was taking those stupid Shots that Kobe takes. However the difference is that He aint no Kobe .

Starr

DD is garbage!

Andre Julian Ward

I’m so disgusted by this loss ….

webfeatmm

Not sure I’d give Casey a B. The jumper heavy offense has to be attributed to him at least a little. He also kept Hayes in there too much in the fourth instead of JV. While I agree that JV was having issues with Gasol, at least he isn’t a deadweight on offense. I’d rather Gasol going for post ups rather than the way the Lakers were shooting the lights out from 3.

kitchy

This is the same thing over and over again….4th quarter….DD decides he has to take the team on his shoulders…..plays Rudy iso ball…4 team mates stand around….and after he turns the ball over….2 points down at the other end. Why cant Matt and Jack comment on this instead of saying that Demar has 23 points and is leading “his” team?

CJT

Well, to be fair Jack did say that DD had 21 points on 20 shots which isn’t very good. He fully acknowledged the poor decisions DD was making with the ball in the second half as well.

Eric

Yea Jack definitely called out the poor-shots Demar took and even Leo called him out in the first half even though we were winning. Not that the announcers have any say in how the Raps choose to run their offence. But if they have any influence they should call out how much we need JV to get more playing time. It looks like he hurts the team when he gets no playing time in the 4th at all, when really he is a workhorse who you can actually run an offence through (Unlike Hayes who has no business taking time away from our future). Casey with weird decisions like this (Novak instead of Ross v Boston) isn’t grasping that we need to grow our talent instead of planning for the short-term. Masai even said at the beginning of the season that Casey would be judged by how he developed the young players instead of wins and losses. Not making a great case for a contract extension here.

Starr

Bs…it’s either u r blind or ur just str8 bias, JV didn’t come to play today. Infact our 2 starting bigs were terrible. Coaches r judged on wins and not that bs u talking about. Am afraid JV might fall short of the height u guys set for him.

In other news Demar Derozan thought he was Kobe again while Kobe was on the bench laughing at him LOL

ad

Wow, were Amir and DD playing for their hometown lakers today?? Because all I saw was just bonehead play after bonehead play from those two. Especially DD who kept on taking poor shots in the 4th. All star my ass. The only player on this team who is a deserving all star is lowry. I really hope DD doesnt make it. He hasnt earned it.

Chewwy No Matthew

Amir and Demar were terrible late in this game. Both committed fouls on 3 point shots and both didn’t help their team in any way during that stretch. One thing I like about Lowry is that when he is struggling offensively or makes a turnover, he sucks it up and plays hard and helps his team in other ways. How many times have you seen Lowry committ a turnover, hustle his ass off to get back on defence and then take a charge? No sulking, no finger pointing, just trying as quick as possible to make up for it.

FREEJV

In other news Amir let another no name go off while thinking hes a shooter

AB4EYE

Live by the jumper, die by the jumper! Raps started out white hot making 17-of-22 77.3% to start the game including 5-of-6 83.3% from 3 only to shoot 27-of-68 39.7% and 4-for-24 16.7% from 3.

What makes this even more embarrassing the Lakers give up more rebounds than anyone in the NBA and have the worst rebound differential -5 a game in the NBA and that help up today and then some going +16 on the glass or and +7 on the offensive end.

We had happen to us what we usually do to teams since the trade as we blew a 19 point lead before losing 81-56 or a 25 point swing over the final 31:02 of the game.

JV got zero FG in the second half and only played 6:08 in the second half!

The story of the the two halves:
DeMar was 7-for-11 in the first half then shot 3-for-13 in the second half
Pat was 6-for-7 in the first half them shot 1-for-5 in the second half
Ross was 2-for-4 in the first half then shot 2-for-7 in the second half
15 points on 25 shots in the second half after 35 on 22 shots in the first.

DDayLewis

Jonas played sparringly in the second half because he was playing like shit and Gasol was killing him in the post. Conversely, Hayes did a great job defending Gasol.

AB4EYE

They all played like shit in the second half with the other 3 big men going 5-for-13 with 10 boards in 41:52 of combind play, JV got 6 less boards in his 6:08 of work in that half

JV had some issues with Pau but you can grow and get better if you don’t play. He was just a -3 and in the game while Amir was -18 with JV matching his assist total and picking up one rebound more in 15:24 less and got only 9 less points on 10 less shots.

Its bad enough we are winning and selling off assets this year but what it even worse is trying to win games we end up losing over player development!

DDayLewis

1. Those stats really don’t indicate whether or not Jonas struggled with Gasol. I don’t want to pull the “watch the games” card, but it was exceedingly obvious that Gasol was dominating him. Hayes did a great job on Gasol and forced him into a bunch of misses/tough shots.

2. What assets are we selling off?

AB4EYE

Those stats show he literally couldn’t do any worse and even if he did the end result would have been the same.

He was having issue with Pau early but at the end of the day we still lost and DC played Chuck a few seconds less than Amir for most PT from a big in the second half which costs development for no long term gain.

The second part was a typo in editing, it was meant to say we aren’t selling assets.

DDayLewis

No, you can’t really infer anything substantial from 14 minutes worth of plus-minus stats. There’s simply too many variables at play to pin down one thing or another. The rebounding is nice but the Raptors weren’t struggling with corralling boards.

Look, I’m also in favor of playing Jonas extra minutes for the sake of development, but development is like an iceberg — 80% of of it is done behind the scenes and we only get to see the 20% that comes from in-game stuff. Hayes was more effective, so he got the minutes.

AB4EYE

One thing we do know they sucked and we lost! I will take my shot with a 21 year old who in worse case scenario gets the same result but gains more experience.

Don’t kid yourself JV and his agent will remember all these games he gets jerked around on PT when he bounces as a FA in a couple years..

DDayLewis

Yes, that’s like saying you shouldn’t have bet with pocket kings because someone else had pocket aces. When we’re discussing the process, it’s not just about the final result, but everything in consideration at the time. Hayes did a great job defending Gasol. Conversely, Gasol was destroying Jonas. It was an easy decision for Casey, and IMO he chose wisely.

Jonas isn’t going anywhere unless Masai trades him.

AB4EYE

Chuck has was a King in uniform but in the poker world he’s a 7-2 off suit. A flop may have it it once in the big blind but you’re going to lose with it 99% of the time.

Not playing JV is like folding AK suited before the flop because someone someone has pocket 10s. It may look bad early but it doesn’t take much for it to turn with you in the drives seat.

JV is as good as gone if he keeps getting handled like this.

DDayLewis

Chuck is a 7-2, but when the flop shows two twos, you’re in a good spot. That’s why I’m advocating him over Jonas because Gasol was killing Jonas, and Hayes did a great job on Gasol. Situationally, it was the right call.

raptorstand

Hayes was gassed the final six minutes, him being out there over Jonas gave us nothing on the offensive end in rebounds or scoring.

DDayLewis

Yes, but he was out there to contain Gasol and he did that.

AB4EYE

I would rather take my chances on Pau taking a contested shot than letting Kelly/Young/Hill score 26 of 30 in the 4th on 13 shots.

DDayLewis

How was that on Hayes?

AB4EYE

Well some of that was from Hill who Chuck was on with Pau out.

AB4EYE

Well at the end of the day Nick Young hit a 3 on the river and those trip deuces got busted up and the Lakers took it down.

We lost the 4th by 5 and Chuck played 10:47, Pau played 4:06 less and J Hill topped Chuck’s stats in his time in the game and Chuck didn’t do anything himself when Pau was on him.

http://www.facebook.com/asifyouknow Al Asifyouknow

Howard, the Gasol brothers and a few others will destroy this poor kid, he needs to hold his ground better and not worry about fouls. Toronto needs another big man…Asik…

Kyle Weber

As a Raptors fan since the days of Mighty Mouse, I needed this loss. Bandwagon was getting a little crowded.

For real though, has a whistle ever been blown on a bailout 3 late in the 4th in a tight game?

Age

While the lakers stepped up the D and the raps got soft, its really hard to overcome 17 extra FT’s. 28 vs 11!!! Thats fckes

AB4EYE

We could have shot more FT if they stop shooting long jumpers, once they stopped shooing so many 3’s they got to the line more. Quarters 1-3 we took 27 3s and shot 5 FT, we got to the line 6 times in the 4th alone and shot just 3 3s and two of them were right at the end oft he game.

ckh26

That was the equivalent of puking on your grandmothers lace tablecloth at Christmas dinner.

Andrey

Hello darkness my old friend.

raptorstand

This game was completely on Casey. Just like the Boston game. You have to go inside and keep going inside , jump shots need to be stopped right now. Unless it has gone down low nobody should be shooting. Demar is a joke in the fourth trying to be something he is not. Jonas being benched is an absolute joke here we go again with the head games . Sure he was getting torched but coach him up in the last part of the game that’s you fing job coach. Casey is 100% the reason for this loss.

ac1011990

When Demar makes those shots people here scream that he’s an all star, when he misses he gets called a joke. The whole team played pretty bad. Jonas got benched because he deserved it, you sit there and cry about winning games so that’s what happens, young guys get benched when they aren’t playing winning ball. Hayes played some great great defence on Gasol, he deserved those minutes. Casey does not go out there and play basketball, that’s up to the players. The team lost this one, not Casey. It’s pretty annoying how people keep crying about the coach or the refs blowing games for us.

raptorstand

Hayes looked completely gassed the final 6 minutes when Jonas could have come in and held down the middle. When you team is consistently shooting jump shots when you are the better team inside its the coaches fault . Demar plays hog ball when the game is on the line that needs to be stopped and that’s the coaches problem. Casey lost this game , the players were under coached.

ac1011990

So. Jonas was going to come in and do something he couldn’t do the whole game, while Hayes was doing an excellent job. As of now Demar is the guy on our team, he is the guy we look to to close out games and make plays because he’s our star. Demar is not a first option, I love Demar and think he’s an excellent player but he needs help. We’re going to lose winnable games until we get an elite player who can close out games or someone from our roster magically turns elite. Gasol pretty much was a non factor when Hayes played him, Jonas had no business taking the floor over Hayes today.

raptorstand

Hayes gave us nothing on the offensive boards or a offensive presence. Yea I think he might have done better with the game on the line, I have seen it before. When Demar comes down with 18 seconds on the clock down 4 with 3 minutes left and jacks an 18 footer is that a good shot? I don’t mind him shooting its the shot selection. Jonas is our elite player even if you and the coach don’t see it. He is the guy

ac1011990

No sorry I don’t see it, I wish I had same rose coloured glasses you always have on. Jonas will be pretty good I just don’t see elite. I love how you think you know more then an NBA coach, I don’t know why you haven’t been hired yet. Raptors are in win now mode, when young guys mess up they sit, no more learning through mistakes as often.

raptorstand

I’m talkinug about the fing game , you wanna make b s remarks to me that’s out of fing line. Yea I know what you think about Jonas you have put him down enough on here, I smell the tanker you are, Jonas needs to be coached up and needs these games to improve when he hasn’t done well earlier in the game, you know show his cajones. I don’t know crap about basketball , never said I did, but I have my opinion and I will use it at my will .

ac1011990

“Jonas is our elite player even if you and the coach don’t see it. He is the guy” I’m pretty sure that statement said you know more about basketball then Casey. And no I’m not a pro tanker anymore, I was but I’m not that stupid, I know it’s to late. I like Jonas, I just don’t think he’s going to be elite, if he turns out elite then my bad and great for the team.

FREEJV

he never makes those shots lets stop kidding ourselves…..

ac1011990

Without Demar and Lowry this team would be a joke. Lowry is the main guy in this but Demar has been really good these past few games. He’s been passing and rebound and keeping us in some games the rest of the team stopped playing in. I’ve always liked Demar but he needs help, can’t do this himself, he’s not a first option but he could be a very good second or third.

Yoshi

I truly don’t understand why Stone got minutes over Fields. Although Fields is a liability on offense, He would have done better executing a heat-check on Swaggy-P. Young had 11 points with less than a minute left in the 3rd and went on a tear on Stone’s watch. Poor substitution and use of the rotation by Coach.

ScottBaird

Playing stone was like going 4-on-5. What about Fields, who can make plays? Novak, who might hit a three? Really no need to call on Stone.

ckh26

Casey way out in front of his blocking on that one. Trying to save his starters for tomorrows back to back without nailing down the front end first.

FREEJV

For some reason Novak never plays. Today would ve been a perfect game for him to play since it was basically a 3 pt contest out there but Caseys ego got in the way and we lost.

Paul

Are we the only team that doesn’t get home court calls?

Chewwy No Matthew

One point that says it all. We fouled a shooter outside the 3 point line 3 times today. Demar and Ross followed those silly fouls with an added technical foul and Amir just plain didn’t learn from leaving his feet the previous play. This game is mental as well as physical and if our players are gonna foul players shooting three’s and take technicals, it spells selfish. Bottom line, the Lakers kept their poise even though the Raptors had a double digit lead in both halves of this game. Getting tired of Demar exhibiting poor attitude. He got into Rudy Gay mode in the fourth and that has never been the formula for a victory during this great run by the team.

JHP

I think most of this team will be gone in 2/3 years. They are at best a 40 win team and the new GM has work to do. Not sure if the present coach should stay and the next few weeks should answer that question. If a team wanted to give use a #1 draft pick and a decent player I would trade DD in a heart beat.

kitchy

I’m with you on that!

FREEJV

well no shit , but lets be real noone givin up a #1 pick for a mediocre player like Demar…..

Andre Julian Ward

I’m so disgusted by this loss …

DeRozansmyguy

Can we not just say that DeRozan had a bad game? Without completely throwing him under the bus. Show some loyalty to your team, and a guy in DeRozan who wants to be here, puts in the work, and will be an all-star. He played bad, and has the last couple of games, he’ll right the ship, he’ll get it back. Lets show , in our gym rat, hardworking, soon to be all-star, DeMar DeRozan. Lowry and DeRozan all stars 2014!!! Go Raps!!!

Screwed by DD

i’m i the only one who’s opinion of demar changed after this game?

ScottBaird

Yes. One game does not a balla make.

FREEJV

its not just this game. he did this against Boston and Minny too

Nathan

This was over when Casey slipped into his bad habits of playing the hot ‘Defensive’ hand of Chuck Hayes and removed JV and 2Pat from the game. Horrible decision. Talent wins Casey. Talent.

http://www.facebook.com/asifyouknow Al Asifyouknow

Agree 100 %

http://www.facebook.com/asifyouknow Al Asifyouknow

If there is a basketball coach here please help me understand what the hell Casey is talking about, he was blaming the offense he called “PRETTY” with the failure of the defense,,,What the heck is that all about? ….Once again there was no answer for the Lakers front court. C-22 points, PF- 17 points and SF-29 points.
DeMar was taking the shots that were there, he was just no hitting them…At the end Young and Kelly killed the Raptors.
The offense was going well but from what I understand Casey thought it was too PRETTY (whatever that means) maybe next time the Raptors can pass up open looks so they can get 3 or 4 passes before the shot to make Casey happy…lol…Don’t like this coach at all…
Maybe JV should get into the Gym next year and gain about 20 pounds of muscle…just saying..
This last few loses have brought out a problem. Maybe Toronto needs stronger bigs.

raptorstand

We a pretty strong big , nobody seemed to want to play him in the fourth. Gasol can make anyone look bad its how you adjust with the game on the line , to bad we couldn’t have watched how Jonas did.

HogyG

The Referees had control of this outcome from the very beginning, putting several Raptors players into early foul trouble. What constituted a foul on one end was not considered the same on the other, this happened against the Raps all game long. The team needs to be shown some respect by the officials, especially in their own building. I don’t blame DeMar for being tech’ed up at all. The late 4th quarter timing of it was very poor, I believe it’s in your best interest to go after them early in the contest. This gives the referees an opportunity to change the flow afterwards. It was apparent that the referees were having one of those “I hate having to come to Canada” moments against the team today. I hope that the Canadian Border Security gives the referees the rubber glove treatment on their way back into the states. I think they’re hiding something inside their rectum…like their head!

Speaking of which, I thought coach reverted to the way we played at the beginning of the season. Back then, I used to think Casey was out to lunch, but I looked back at it differently since the trade more as an opportunity to showcase Rudy for the best possible payoff. Some think they saw JV being taken advantage of and sat because of it, maybe that was true. Personally, I’d live with Jonas’ flaws any game of the season, because his effort and energy are infectious, (as is his sad demeanor on the bench that 2nd half, keep your head up for the sake of the team big fella!) not to mention the development angle of it all. Today, I saw it as a coach being asked to showcase Chuck on a game they thought they could get a win with him in the middle. Thus, adding value to someone Ujiri would like to see be moved in the next few weeks before the deadline. I imagine this is the same reason we haven’t seen HansBro rushed back into the lineup as well. The minutes and solid production of Chuck may come at the expense of some wins like this afternoon, but hopefully it will pay dividends if he is moved by the deadline, which would save the team something around $6 million next season.

It was great to see Greivis have his first solid game off the bench since acquiring him. hopefully a sign of things to come for him. I look forward to Salmons being healthy again as well.

http://www.facebook.com/asifyouknow Al Asifyouknow

The last two games I’m starting to see traces of the old Vasquez coming back, hope he makes a full comeback….Next year is his pay day year, he needs a great showing even as a back up , with PG injuries at an all time high teams will be looking with wallets wide open…lol

raptorstand

I tell you what , that’s the best game I have seen Pau Gasol, play in 3 years, he is fully back from injury and looks like the all star of old, would have been nice to see how Jonas would have done with some time sitting and thinking about how he could play him. Coach didn’t see fit to see what our future could do .

Roarque

William Lou of RR to prep us all for the Celtics game last week said:

”Full disclosure: I’m writing this recap with a huge smirk on my face.

I’m smirking because the hated Celtics are on a nine-game losing streak and our
beloved Dinos are winners of three straight. I’m smirking because we’re finally
atop the Atlantic and the lowly Celtics are precariously close to sole
possession of last place.”

Prediction from William:

“Raptors go into Boston, play a sluggish first half and fall behind by 10, before releasing the
river in the second half en route to blowing out these green goblins by 15 points.”

Reality Check:
Raptors lost in a close one that should not have been close.

Andrew Thompson of RR to prep us all for the Lakers matinee on Sunday said:

“This Lakers defense is exactly what the doctor ordered for fans of ball movement in
the Toronto offence.

The Raptors are a young, enthusiastic team composed of young players trying to
prove themselves and veterans who are almost all playing for new contracts next
season. Another reason why this team has done so well lately is because they
don’t take games off against lesser opponents the way more established,
undisciplined or aging teams do”.

Andrew Thompson Prediction:

“Tomorrow’s game against the Lakers should provide the perfect practice dummy for Toronto’s
improving offence. Mike D’Antoni’s defenses are always bad, and it’s not just an outcome of pace.”

Reality Check:

Raptors lost it in the 2nd half when they stopped playing Raptor ball and started playing ISO ball (aka
Rudy Ball).

Karma

Karma refers to the actions of our speech and mind. Every action we perform leaves an imprint, or potentiality, on our very subtle mind, and each imprint eventually gives rise to its own effect. The Law of Attraction is often an instance of Karma – be careful what you wish for – it may come true. Especially if the opposing team can read what Raptors Republic says will happen when they play the Raptors.

DDayLewis

Yup, my prediction led to Boston grabbing all of the rebounds and Toronto missing their free throws, and Andrew’s prediction led to Swaggy P turning into Kevin Durant and Demar turning into Rudy Gay.

Don’t worry, I’m sure we can just write an overly negative preview on RR citing all the reasons why the Raptors suck and predict that they will lose. That should right the ship and make everything come to a karmic balance, right?

Roarque

So you don’t have a lot of time for the psychology of sports? Pity.

DDayLewis

Enlighten me.

Bendit

Free TimW.

Nilanka15

There’s a difference between psychology and voodoo magic.

Rupert

Terrence Ross needs to become a reluable scorer who we can go to when demar/Lowry struggle (not thatvlowry has struggled) then maybe demar wont play hero ball if ross and JV picked up more on offense this team will win even days like today when we played like crap

Rupert

You gotta live and die with derozan vs. the nets he won us the game today he tried to do that and the shots didnt fall but he does take annoying jumpers too often responding to this last stretch will decide the future and what masai does

TheSpiceTyrant

As evident in our recent success, wins for that team rely heavily on a consistent bench. So when two go down (TH and JS) things get rough.

We are truly one “trade or injured Klow” away from seriously sinking in the east.

Kujo2020

Yep, DD made his best Rudy game impression in the 4th. Horrible slot selection. He played hero ball.
Live by the jump shot, die by the jump shot. Not a game we should have lost.

Tomorrow’s game in Charlotte will be tough. I sense another loss.

robertparrish00

Would have liked to see Novak in the jump shooting contest. Refs really took this one away, but they can’t give make up calls when no one is going to the hoop. JV should have been left in till he fouled out. Would have much rather had Pau beat us than a streaky Young.

ckh26

Normally you have to give credit to the other team. After all they are trying to win too. But this, this I really put down to the Raptors losing it rather that the Lakers winning it.

CJT

I was disappointed with Amir today. He is usually very level headed, but his clear path foul lead to a four point swing and then fouling a 3 point shot. He was off today. Raps will rebound. Go Raps!!

Brian L

You know who I really feel bad for? Masai…I feel the Raptors are 1-2 pieces away from contending in the east with this group. If our best player is Lowry, it will be tough to go up against the Heat/Pacers. But if we are going to go after an established star / veteran, it would mean giving up assets like draft picks / financial flexibility. It sort of means there’s no right answer for what he does here, his hand is forced to at least give this a go this year by indeed going after some upgrades, or he could just let this play out we get knocked out of first/second round (maybe by an unachieving BKN / NYK who get hot at that time) and could get lambasted for not doing anything. Either way, I don’t envy his position right now!

DryDry

The stretches of crap play were like watching pre-bye-bye-Rudy Raptors.

Giving up a 19 point lead, then building it up again and then blowing it? Horrible.

Salmons would have made the difference. We were stuck playing Stone? Yeesh.

Vasquez AND Lowry on the floor at the same time? Yeesh.

Louvens Remy

Good job by the LA Defenders and the man they call Swaggy Peanuts.

golden

OMG. Chuck Hayes is the new Alan Anderson. Just when Casey builds some scraps of credibility, he blows it all with games like this. I don’t care how badly Jonas is playing against Gasol, he’s GOT TO stay in there and learn. If you’re going to lose, at least get some player development in there. Notwithstanding, Hayes is clearly the worst player in the rotation, by far. Raps lost twice today. In no basketball universe, does Hayes play 23 minutes and Jonas 14. EVER.

Louvens Remy

Jonas SUCKED today. He was learning on the bench watching how a 6’6 Centre guards a 7 footer. JV’s 1 on 1 defence was really really shit against Pau.

guest

Raps got exposed on this one.

Phat AlberG

Effin Refs, Poor decision making by Amir, Demar & Casey = L

Master P

ok Demar has gottogo, WIGGINS please!

Kobe B.

Mr. Casey please stop trying to turn robin into batman if you know what i mean and go back to TEAM ball,we like it like that